Okay, everybody. It's good to see you all. Everybody's here bright and early this morning, right? Time to study the Word of God. It's time to finish up a subject we've been talking about about six weeks now. Today, we will finish up the topic of the Law of God. That's chapter 19 of the confession and then next week we'll get into chapter 20 which is the gospel, the extent of grace and the gospel, the good news of grace and so it's always very important to be able to distinguish the difference in law and gospel. Remember the law says do, the gospel says done. And so today we want to finish up this subject of the law of God. I hope that this has helped you as we've talked about it to think about the law and how it applies to us. So often you'll have people that aren't believers or not in the faith and they'll ask you, they'll say, well, you know, why? You know, if all of the law is still in place, then why aren't you wearing clothes that aren't of mixed, you know, fabric, or why are you eating pork now? And so, we've kind of learned that there's a differentiation in the law, that there's several types of laws, and the moral law is the eternal law, the law that was written on Adam's heart in the garden. And that's what we're still accountable to that today. So we might not be accountable to the tooth for tooth and eye for an eye or we might not be accountable for, you know, if someone steals something from me, they got to pay me back four times as much as they stole. Those were the civil laws of the nation of Israel. But the moral law is very important. So we'll kind of review that when we get done today. Let's go ahead. We'll open with a word of prayer. And then we'll get started. So let's pray and ask God to bless our time together. Father, we come to you this morning thanking you for the many blessings that you pour on our lives and especially the blessing of your law. We are thankful people that you have given us a rule, a guide, something to know ourselves and to know you by. We're thankful to know that you have placed this standard of righteousness before us. knowing that we can't achieve it on our own but it's in Christ and and what he's done for us that we find the righteousness we need but I pray this morning as we talk more about your law that you will continue as you have done to write your law upon our hearts that we might not sin against you that you will help us to grow in our understanding of your truth and and also Lord even more importantly an appreciation for the grace that comes from you for all of the time that we fall short of your standard. So be with us now in this time of study. Be with those that couldn't be with us this morning. Help us to spend this day worshiping you in spirit and in truth. In Christ Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we're going to look, we're going to go pretty quick today, because I do want to take some time at the end of the class to discuss with you some of the things we've been learning, something that may have stuck out to you that you're taking from the classes we've been having. But let's go ahead and look at paragraph 19-5 of the creedal statement. And before we do that, let's look at our jumping off text for this morning. If you have your bulletin with you, our jumping off text this morning is found in Galatians 3 21 it says this is the law is the law then contrary to the promises of God may it never be for if a law had been given which was able to impart life Then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law. So look what paul's saying there. He's saying Is the law of god contrary to the promises of god? Do they contradict one another? And so so many people say that grace and the law contradict one another when in reality there's a harmony there The law is given so that we can know God and the promises of God are given so that thankfully it's not up to us anymore, it's up to Him, it's up to His promise. But, so are they contrary to one another? Is the law and grace contrary to one another? Well, Paul says, God forbid or may it never be. Because if there had been a law given that was enabled us to, was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based upon the law. So, let's think about that. Righteousness indeed would have been based upon the law. So, what is righteousness? Righteousness. Yeah, you're right. It's that simple. Righteousness is a state of being right. So think about that this morning as we sit here. Think about the week that you've lived and think about God who is in heaven, God who is in your heart, watching your thoughts and your words and your actions and your deeds. Would you say that you were righteous before God? And the answer is no and yes. And those are not contrary to one another because the law condemns us and shows us where we've fallen short. When you made that funny face when you got to thinking about how you lived this week, that's your conscience telling you that you have lived in violation to the righteous standards of God. But thankfully, we have a God who loved us enough to send his son and live the life that we couldn't and die the death that we deserve so that we can have a life and a righteousness that we can never earn in our own efforts. So righteousness is a state of being right. When God looks upon you, you are pleasing in his eyes. And by the law only, we would never be pleasing in his eyes because the Bible says all have what? Sin, all have fallen short of the glory of God. But it says if the law, if there had been, if the law had been able to give us life, then our righteousness would have been based on the law. The law can't give you life. The law brings condemnation and death with it. But it is in Christ that we find this righteousness. But this passage, what Paul's making sure we understand is this. Even the law of God is a gracious gift from him because he doesn't leave us in the dark. He doesn't leave us blind and know what he expects of us. And remember, as we've been talking the last six weeks, we've learned that the law does three things for us. What are the three things that the law does for us, y'all? Who remembers? It curbs or restrains sin. It acts as a mirror to reveal to us our sin and lead us to the graciousness of God. And it's also a guide. It shows us what it looks like to live pleasing to God. So when we think about the law, remember God gave the children of Israel the moral law, the cultic laws and the civil laws. He gave them all of those laws so that they can live as a people different from the rest of the world, a separate people. And he didn't give it to them as steps to take in order to be righteous, but to show them that without him stepping in, we never would be righteous. But the laws were given by God to curb or restrain sin. We talked about this several times during these lessons. You know, they put the speed limit signs up and nobody pays attention to them. Even the safest of drivers does two or three miles over what the speed limit says. But instead of us using the sign as a standard and obeying it, We use it as a hindrance to us getting to where we want to go at the time we want to be there. The law is not given, that sign was not given as a suggestion. If the policeman pulls me over in this school zone for doing 50 and I say, well, I just thought that that sign was a suggestion about how fast, what's he going to do? He's still going to write me a ticket. Why? Because I violated the command. So God has given us these laws to curb sin, to mirror the righteousness of God into our lives, to help us to have something to see what the standard is, and not only that, but to guide us. And so for the child of God who has the law now written upon their hearts, it works. It curbs sin in us. It reveals to us the areas in our lives where we still fall short. And not only that, but it guides us and shows us the way along. And remember, we're all like children. We need to be told over and over and over again. I mean, how many times do you tell your kids something before they get it? She was about 40 years. You see? And you laugh because it was the same for you. I was overwhelmed this morning as I was getting ready for finishing up the sermon. And I was like, you know, I hope folks don't get bored because we talk about a lot of the same stuff over and over again. But then I got to remember, we need to hear it over and over again. Like this is what we need to be reminded of. Yeah. Yep. And it's re-emphasis. And what we'll find is, is that the more God repeats something in scripture, the more important it is. But so as we've been learning, we think about this, this pastor scripture, the law is not contrary to the promises of God. The law can't make us righteous. The promise of God can. You see the difference? Because what is the promise? You have sinned, you have fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death. Is that a promise? Yeah. It definitely is. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. That's the other side of the promise. We're sinners. He's a savior. And so the promise of God will never be overridden by the law of God because they are in harmony. They work together. ok so it says in paragraph 19 chapter 19 verse paragraph 5 it says this the moral law right now what is the moral law the Ten Commandments basically the Ten Commandments the moral law requires obedience of everyone so the moral law does not just apply to the Jews The Muslims actually believe in the Ten Commandments too. They believe Moses was a prophet and the Ten Commandments are good. But the moral law requires obedience of everyone. The civil laws and the cultic laws of Israel apply only to Israel. Matter of fact, a lot of those laws don't even apply to Israel right now because they can't make the sacrifices that we've been studying, can they? Right? People would frown on it if they started cutting up goats in their local synagogue. See, but the moral law requires obedience of everyone, both those who are justified as well as others. I think about that if I'm justified, that means I'm declared righteous in the eyes of God. Why? Because the righteousness of Jesus Christ has covered me. When the father looks down from heaven and sees me, he doesn't see my sin. He sees the righteousness of his son. I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So does that mean, well, the law don't apply to me anymore? No, because there's still that old man in me that's still sinning. There's still that old man in me that grits his teeth and balls his fist up against the laws of God and says, whatever, whatever, I'll do whatever I want. And so the law, the moral law requires obedience of everyone, for those who are justified as well as others. Now, how many people do you know that aren't believers and say, well, the law is going to apply to me, I can do whatever I want. Well, the next time one of them tells you that, smack him in the mouth and take his wallet. And see what he thinks about thou shalt not steal. Deep in his conscience, he knows it is wrong to take somebody else's property. You know, the law is only offense to us when we're breaking it. you know if I'm not speeding I don't even pay attention to the signs or the policeman is on the side of the road but if I'm going 10 miles over the speed limit and I happen to look behind that oak tree and there's his car now the law has become offensive to me hasn't it? yeah you see how that works? or you ride around texting and driving and when you see that car you put the phone down and try to act like you wasn't doing anything wrong But the point being is, is this obligation arises not only because of its content, but because of the authority of God, the creator who gave it. This is God's command on our life. He commands you not to lie. He commands you not to steal. He commands you to remember his Sabbath day and keep holy. He commands you to have no other gods before him. And that law is a constant requirement of everyone. Even those that are out in the boat fishing today, the command of remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is still applicable to them. And not only that, but that command doesn't make me and you any better than them because we're here and they're not. You see how that works? It just means it's not an offense to me because why? Why is it not an offense to me? Because I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, right? And I may just be here in body and not in spirit. You see, I may be out on the boat with that fella in my mind. So, the obligation arises not only because of its content, but because of the authority of God. He's the one that puts breath in your nose. He can tell you how to live your life. He's the one that gives you life. He's the one that has placed His whole creation to spinning. He's the one that holds everything in His hands and rules and reigns over everything. And so He's allowed to tell us what to do. That's what it means to call Him Lord. Right? Nor does Christ in any way dissolve the obligation in the Gospel. Instead, He greatly strengthens it. What does that mean? Christ does not dissolve the obligation in the Gospel. Yeah, just because he's fulfilled it all doesn't mean that you're not obligated to do so Now you're not going to and thankfully he's done it for us But his doing it doesn't negate your obligation to be obedient and follow him you see All right, so let's look at some passage of scripture to back up that paragraph that we just looked at. Romans 13 verses 8 through 10 tells us this. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. All right. Verse 9, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is a fulfillment of the law. And so we are commanded to fulfill the law, we're commanded to obey the law. And it said, how do you obey the law? You love your neighbor. So remember the Ten Commandments. Again that this is very repetitive, but I want you if there's nothing else you well, there's a lot I would love for you to keep and remember in this class But what are the two table? What do I mean when I say the two tables of the law? What do I mean when I say that the two tables of the law? Okay The table, the two tables of the law. That's the two covenants. Covenant of words, covenants, grace. But the two tables of the law. Remember table? If you add a T to the end of it, what does it spell? And where do we remember tablets from? Our Sunday school classroom when we were kids? Who had the two tablets? Moses. And what did he do when he come down from the mountain? He threw him down and bust him because he was mad at the people because he hadn't even got down with the law yet and they done broke the promise. They said we'll do everything he tells us to do. And he comes down and they already broke it. But those two tablets represent the two tables of the law. And the two tables of the law are number one, the first table is the first four commandments. You shall have no other God before me. Don't take his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. and one more, don't make any statues, images or idols and bow down and worship them. So all four of the commandments in the first table of the law have to do with who? Loving God. This is what it looks like to love God. The second table of the law says obey your parents, do not lie, do not steal, do not murder, do not commit adultery and don't covet. What do all of those laws have to do with it? neighbors you see so the first table emphasizes a love for God the second table a love for neighbor so now it makes much more sense when I hear Jesus say the greatest commandment is this love the Lord your God with all your heart your mind your soul and your strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself on these two laws hang all of the law in the prophets You see what he's doing? He's taking the Ten Commandments and he's combining it into two laws, right? At the beginning it was just one law, don't eat from that tree. You couldn't keep that. But now it's two laws, love God, love neighbor. And so it says, love does no wrong to a neighbor and therefore a law to love is to fulfill the law. Remember love is one of the, is love a fruit of the Spirit? Yes, it's the first one. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, self-control, and long-suffering. It's the first one. So, love is an expression of obedience. And it is a fulfillment of the law. And what does Paul say after that? Against such there is no law. So the fruits of the Spirit, if you are expressing and exercising the fruits of the Spirit, there's no law that's going to tell you not to do that. There's no law that says do not love. There's no law that says do not have joy. There's no law that says do not have peace. Do not have patience. Do not have gentleness. Do not have self-control. There's no laws against those things. So if you're walking in the Spirit, guess what you're doing? You're fulfilling the law. You're doing what the law commands you to do. And you're not doing what it commands you not to do. Alright, James 2, 8 and then 10 and 12 says this. if however you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scriptures you shall love your neighbor as yourself you are doing well so a royal law says love your neighbor as you love yourself why is it a royal law because it's coming from who? the king of kings hallelujah hallelujah the royal law is a decree from the king love your neighbor as yourself you are doing well then 10 and 12 said this for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point he has become guilty of it all Now that can be frustrating, can't it? Because you can check eight boxes and then you get to one and it's like, uh-oh, I messed up. And what it says is if you're guilty of one, he throws the whole book at you. Is that fair? He's the judge. He's the one who made the rules. He's the one that enforces the rules. He can say what he wants to say. And what does he say? Guilty. And for us that can be frustrating because we all fall short every day. And even in my best of efforts I still fail. And so we tend to establish our righteousness based upon other people's unrighteousness. Well at least I'm not as like that. But what we find is the law says yes you are. And so If we try to establish our righteousness based upon the law, if we try to establish our righteousness based upon the law, we're going to always be frustrated because we're going to always slip up. There's always going to be cracks. But if we trust God that He has fulfilled the law and we allow the Spirit of God to work in our lives and work through us, then we will love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Verse 11, he who said do not commit adultery also said do not commit murder. Now, and what he does, he argues from the absurd. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. Murder is about the worst of all of the sins that there is. He said, well, if you were, you know, You can't run around committing adultery and say, well, at least I'm not a murderer. Because you've killed somebody's marriage in doing that. You've murdered somebody's marriage in doing that. And so it's still the same. James 2, 10 and 11 says this, or 12 says, so speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. That's a nice word, the law of liberty. We are set free from sin by the law of liberty. What is the law of liberty? I would say the law of liberty is the grace of God. That we are free to live our lives according to His commands. Once He regenerates our hearts, once He writes His law upon our hearts, we are now set free not to serve sin, but to serve God and neighbor. And the world we live in is full of, I just was observing that this morning, we're self-indulgent, like it's about me. It really is. It really is about me, and we are completely self-indulged. We don't think about other people. And we laugh and we point it out in our teenagers. All they care about is themselves, our kids, they're self-centered. It's me, me, me, my, my, my, my, my. But you know what? As an adult, you sometimes want to rip their hair out, you know? Why? Because, it's about me! I got things, I got wants, I got desires too. I want to take a nap, I want to, you know, I want to go out and have a nice meal. I don't want to be sitting here, you know, doing this with you. I want to, I. And so, the law of liberty sets us free not to serve self, but to serve Christ, to serve the truth and we need to remember the graciousness of God who has set us free from sin to serve him and others and remember what it was like to be in bondage. To be gracious and forgiving of those who are still dead in their trespasses and sin. The people that you see living in sin around you but for the grace of God there goes I and we need to understand it the alcoholic and the addicts the thieves and the fornicators unless God steps in they're gonna continue to live that way they can't help it it's their nature and even more important than that is and if it were not for God's grace, I would still be right there with Him. And so, the law of liberty. God says, thou shalt be free. You see? And so when He fills our hearts with His Holy Spirit, He sets us free to be who He created us to be instead of who the world is trying to mold us into. Matthew 5, 17 to 19. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill, to complete them, to do everything that was required and commanded. So when Christ came, He didn't come to abolish the law. He came to fulfill it. He said, I've come to do my Father's will. What is His Father's will? Well, it's expressed in the law. God's will, you want to know what God's will is? Go to the law. That is a verbal expression of his will. So many people say, I wonder what his will is for my life. Right? And all they're thinking about is who am I going to marry, or when will I get some more money for my bank account, or you know, will I be healthy next week? What is his will for my life? It's about me. But his will is expressed in his law. That's very true. Our problem is with the Ten Commandments. We don't even follow those as we should. So, verse 18 says, "...for truly, truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth is passed away, not the smallest stroke shall pass from the law until it is accomplished." So, God is not doing away with His law. Right. Now, what is He talking about there? Is He talking about the occultic laws? And the civil laws? Well, we eat a lot of pork today and we're not sacrificing animals. What he's talking about is the moral law, the eternal law. Remember, we learned a couple of weeks ago that when he ripped the veil from top to bottom, he's saying we're done with that old system. We're not going back to it. That's not going to happen. because by going back to it what I would be admitting or saying is that his sacrifice in his work was not enough I gotta I gotta help it out okay verse 19 says whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever keeps and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven so are those who live according to the law and those who teach the law and those who live by and and command their kids their families to do the same are they will be the greatest in the kingdom but those who teach others are not to do what God has told him to do will be considered it the least in the kingdom so if they're the least in the kingdom are they still saved are they still members of the kingdom of God yeah but Right. Well, but they don't enjoy the privileges of walking in fellowship and true harmony with Christ. And so many who are truly believers who have gotten caught up in the world and living in the world. And like there's been times in my life where I just live completely outside of God's will. And I was miserable. I tried to convince myself and everybody around me that I was happy, but the reality was I was miserable. Because the new creation that I was on the inside was being swallowed up by the old man that I used to be before he saved me. And so we need to understand that we are to live according to his laws and we are commanded to live according to his laws. We are to use those laws properly. And what is the proper use of the law? To curb sin. Mirror the righteousness of Christ and to guide us along as we go. And so those are the proper uses of the law All right, and then that last chapter passage Romans 3 31 says this do we then nullify the law through faith? So is the law now nullified because I believe in Jesus Christ No, may it ever be on the contrary. We established the law and Now think about what he's saying there. By becoming a believer in trusting Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, having faith in Jesus, do I now nullify the law and say, well, the law don't matter anymore? No, not only that, it says I established the law. But I want you to think about what he means by saying I established the law. What he's saying is this. The simple fact that I had to turn to Christ for salvation Shows me that the law was right because I couldn't do it. I Established the purpose of the law by trusting in Christ I show that the law was necessary because what does it do it drives me to the cross? It drives me away from myself and drives me to him So faith does not nullify the law Faith actually establishes the law Because believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved is not a suggestion. It's a command. Unbelievers are commanded to believe. And their unwillingness to do so shows the true state of their heart. It's a command. Alright, so we do not nullify the law through faith. We establish it. Alright, so let's look at 19.6 really quickly. We're going to go through that paragraph. I do want to get some review time in before we get done. And we'll actually do some of the reviewing here. We'll see some of the echoes of what we've been talking about for the last six weeks. True believers are not under the law as a covenant of works to be justified or condemned by it. What do we mean when we say a covenant of works? What is a covenant? Agreement or a promise made between two parties the old entire Old Testament is a covenant of works Now the covenant of grace is in it It's just hidden and not clearly seen The covenant of grace is the New Testament and The covenant of grace is not a covenant of works, but there are certainly works involved are there not and you see how that works? Augustine said it this way he said the old the new is in the old concealed the old is in the new revealed it's one big story covenant of works covenant of grace and there are echoes of the covenant of grace in the covenant of works and there are echoes of the covenant of works in the covenant of grace but we will never be justified by our works we will be justified by grace But if I have grace, I will work, because why? Because God is at work in me, therefore it will work out of me. So true believers are not under the law as a covenant of works. So the Ten Commandments are not a ladder that you use to climb to God. And guys, ladies, that is our dead set mentality as fallen human beings. Tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. I just saw one of my buddies this morning, my Pentecostal buddy, and he posted on there he had a gas meter on his car. And he said, where are you? Are you lukewarm? And he had a half a tank. Are you cold? What was it? Empty tank. Or are you hot on fire for the Lord? Full tank. And that's just our natural setting. Let me measure myself against other people. The problem is, is God takes the law and says, no, you measure yourself according to my righteousness. And if that be the case, I have nothing to offer. I am completely empty. So, the believer is not under the law of the covenant of works to be justified or condemned by it. So the law will not justify me? The law is not going to condemn me either. Why? Because Christ has already absorbed the condemnation I deserve. yet it is very useful to them and to others as a rule of life that informs them of the will of God and their duty you go ahead, it directs and obligates them the law directs and obligates them to live according to its precepts it exposes the sinful corruption of our natures our hearts and our lives And as we examine ourselves in the light of the law, we come to further conviction of humiliation for and hatred of sin along with a clear view of our need for Christ and for His perfect obedience. Was that a baby? All right, so nobody left the baby on the steps, right? Okay, we can get back to work. All right. So we think about that, that the law exposes our corruption in our hearts. It calls us to examine ourselves in the eyes of God, and it brings us to further conviction and humiliation and a hatred for sin. And so, if the Spirit of God is truly at work in you, as you live your life, as you are more and more conformed to the image of Christ, you're going to become more and more aware of the sin that's still within you. You're going to become more sensitive to sin. I can't tell you that nowadays there's hardly anything I can watch on TV without having to hit the fast forward through some scenes or something, you know? And used to it, I would have just watched it. But now I know that I can't indulge my mind in those scenes anymore because they stay with me. And so, I'll have a thought come to my mind. I'm angry at somebody. I'm ready to, you know, kick somebody in the shin at work because they acted silly. And I have to remember that anger rests in the bosom of a fool. And the more I walk with him, the more aware I become of my fallenness. I become, but for the child of God who has the spirit of God in them, who knows the grace, the mercy, and the forgiveness of God, that should not be something that is frustrating, but something that is encouraging. It shows us that we're still human. It shows us that we still need to trust in Christ and His grace alone and not in ourselves. Now for the fallen man, he does not want to be told about how bad he is. He don't even want you to bring it up. But for the child of God, we want to be know where we still fall short. And so That's one of the things that we need to learn as Christians, that the closer we walk with Him, the more we walk with Him, the more sensitive we're going to become of our fallenness and our need. And we'll talk about that in the sermon today, how our need is the most important thing that we need to recognize. Because it's in recognizing our need that we find His supply. Alright, so the next statement there says the law is also useful to regenerate, to restrain our corruptions because it forbids sin. The punishment threatened by the law shows us what even our sins deserve and what troubles we can expect in this life due to our sin, even though we are freed from the curse and the severity of it. The promises of the law likewise show us God's approval of obedience and the blessings they may expect when they keep it. Even though these blessings are not owed to them, by the law the covenant works. If people do good and refrain from evil because the law encourages good and discourages evil, that does not indicate that they are under the law and not under grace. And so that's a big mouthful there, but what is he saying? The promises of the law shows God's approval. So are there blessings in keeping the law? Yes. Even under grace. Even under grace we are blessed when we keep the law. If nothing else, a peace of conscience. It's nice to know when we do the right thing. It's nice to know that when we live our lives pleasing to God. You know, we don't ever wanna take for granted the grace that we have. And the true child of God is never going to want to take advantage of the grace of God. Have I been forgiven for all of my sins? Am I ever gonna be condemned again by the law of God? No, but for the true child of God, that's not just free reign to go and do what you want, right? It's freedom to serve Christ. And it's in serving Christ that I find that freedom that I so desperately need. A freedom that this world just simply can't give to me. You know, I can give money to all the charities and private organizations that I want to. And that's actually a good thing. There's nothing in the world wrong with that. But that can never take place for the giving of a sacrificial life to Christ, and the fulfillment that you find in those things. Because by walking with Christ, by living for Christ, by allowing yourself to be the salt and light that this world so desperately needs, as you walk with Christ, you will draw others to Him. You will be fulfilling the royal law. You will be loving your neighbors, you will be loving God, and those are good things to do. So let's look at some passage of scripture to back up that paragraph and then we'll look at 19th chapter real quick. Romans 6, 14 says this, For sin shall not be the master over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. Sin will not be your master. It will no longer own you. And you know what's funny? If I try to live my life by the law, I'm constantly reminded of how short I come. Thankfully, I don't have to fulfill the law because Christ has already fulfilled it for me. And by doing that, I've been set free to live for Him and not for myself. So sin doesn't have to master me anymore. Because, you know, sin is idolatry. Idolatry is sin. And generally the root of all idolatry is I. And by living for Christ, by living in grace it's no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me I'm not living for me anymore and that's where true freedom is found when when when he makes it evident to my heart and my mind that it's about you guys and not me when he makes it evident in my heart without where I can't even argue that it's about loving him and loving you and not about me It's in those times that I find my greatest joy and my greatest freedom. When I go to serve itself, I step back into the prison cell and throw away the key. Because self will never be satisfied. Never. But true satisfaction is found in living for God and others. A closed fist can't receive anything, can it? It's an open hand that receives. And so we often want me, me, me, my, my, my, when in reality it should be, what's your desire, Father? How can I help others? How can I live to be pleasing to you? So, Romans 6, 14, you are not under the law, but under grace. So, does the law still apply to our lives? Yes. Okay, you are not under the condemnation of the law. The law can no longer condemn you. There is now, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Why can the law no longer condemn you? Right. Okay. So, in Christ is the roots. Walking in Christ is the fruits. No harder than it was for him to forgive you. Yeah, because we're measuring our pack by their bushel. What we're doing is we're establishing our righteousness based upon their unrighteousness. When we have that attitude, but for the grace of God, there goes I. Remember, especially when it comes to family, they're chipped off the old block. You can say whatever you want, but they're an expression of you. It's just that simple. You can try to deny it, but they are an expression of you. They may be expressing those dark parts of you that you didn't want anybody to know about but they're there We are chipped off the old block. We're Adams kids and we act just like our daddy and so Our willingness to forgive others is strengthened by our understanding of what it took for him to forgive us It takes a miracle. It takes a work in the heart. It takes the grace of God setting you free because what you're doing is you're holding someone else to a condition that no longer condemns you. You're trying to take the hammer that condemns you and beat them over the head with it. You're to tell them the truth And you're not to enable them. That's exactly right. Yeah. So, but forgiveness is, forgiveness is not saying what you did to me is okay. Forgiveness is saying, you're going to answer to God for what you've done. I'm not your judge. You know what I mean? No. Right. It's always going to, it's always easy. In other words, you hold people accountable for their action. I'm not saying that you just let people walk all over you. That's not the point. The point is that you forgive them in the sense that you say you're in God's hands. You're in God's hands. Unless they trust in Him, they're not under His grace. They're under the condemnation of His law. What they desperately need is His grace in their lives. And you taking the law and beating them over the head with it is not going to help them to understand grace. Now you share the truth with them, you share the law with them and say, you know, what you're doing, you're stealing from me, that's wrong. And you know it's wrong. And you're going to answer for what you're doing. And you don't leave your pocketbook laying around for them. You know what I mean? You don't tempt them or give them an opportunity to sin. But you can love people and tell them the truth. And you can love people and hold them accountable for their actions. But it is so easy for me. I'm going to say it's probably easy for you too. It's really easy for me to sit in a church pew or a church chair as we are here. and look down on the world around us and say, well, shame on you all. When in reality, but for the grace of God, I'm right there with them. You know what I mean? Like unless God's grace was at work in my life, I would be still living in that same way. And we need to understand how deadly sin is. And we need to also be empathetic to the peril that our loved ones who are still out there in the world are in. Like if they die, they're going to bust hell wide open. It would fall every time. Yeah, we certainly would. And you know, and well, we'll save the rest of that part of this because there's something I want to bring up in the sermon today that will apply to that. Maybe we'll hear that. Let's go ahead and finish up here. Romans 2, Galatians 2, 16 says, Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Even we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified By faith in Christ and not of works of the law since by the works of the law no flesh will be justified We're justified in the works of Christ and trusting in what he has done Because the things that we have done will never be enough to justify us All right, Romans 8.1 says, here's that passage, there's now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ. If you are in Christ, Christ has forgiven you for your sins and he has clothed you in his righteousness. It's just like Noah and his family being in the ark, you are safe from the wrath of God. But you certainly don't want to jump out. Thankfully, he seals us in the ark, he seals us in Christ. Noah wasn't going anywhere until that flood was done. And that is, Jesus sent the disciples out to the witness. And he told them basically, if they accept you, you join their blessing. But if they don't accept you, you just, that's not me. And you move on. The only way they're going to be set free from their sin is if the Holy Spirit in Christ sets them free. The dusting off of your shoes is saying, I've told you the truth and now it's between you and God. I can't do anything about it. So the Bible tells us that the Word of God is profitable for teaching, for exhortation, and for rebuke. And that's what we're to use it for. And then you share the Word with them and then let the Word do what it does. And what we found is, as we've been studying the life of Christ, we see that as His Word goes out, it softens some and draws some to Him, but it also hardens some and pushes them away. And so, the result of what they do with the Word is not up to us, that's between them and the Holy Spirit. We're to share the truth, live the truth, and hold them accountable to the truth, But we can't change their hearts. You can't. So when you're dusting off, you've shared the truth with them. When you're dusting off the dust off your shoes, what you're telling them is, is this is now between you and God. I've done everything within my power to show you the truth. And now what you do with that truth is between you and God. And so the dusting off is saying, I'm letting go of this. It's not my responsibility anymore. Can't be responsible for your actions. I can only tell you what your actions will zone in so Romans 10 for says For Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to everyone who believe end of the law for righteousness You see how that for righteousness part. What does that mean? It's not you're fulfilling the law that makes you righteous. That's the righteousness of Christ. It makes you righteous. I Let's look at this last paragraph and then and we got two minutes we gotta quit. The use of the laws are not contrary to the grace of the gospel but are in sweet harmony with it for the Spirit of Christ subdues and enables human will to do freefully and cheerfully what the will of God has revealed as required in the law. So the law is not contrary to grace. Next week we're going to take up a new topic. Next week we're going to talk about grace. But the law and grace are not contrary to one another, they harmonize with one another. The law says do, grace says done. But there is a harmony in that message because Jesus came and did what we could not do. to set us free from what we are and to set us free to be who he created us to be. And so the law and the gospel are harmonious. They work together for the good of God's people. And then I want, so let me say this again, we've learned three important things. Number one, the law can be divided in the Bible, the law can be divided into three different types of laws. The moral law being the eternal 10 commandments, The civil law, meaning the rules of the nation of Israel, how they live, and the cultic laws, the laws on how the children of Israel in the Old Covenant were to worship. That's the three divisions. The three uses of the law, the law curbs sin, the law mirrors sin back to us, and the law guides us and teaches us how we are To live our lives. So we've learned in the last six weeks that the law was given to Adam We've learned that the law was written on Adam's heart and what is a risk is eventually written down in the Ten Commandments We talked about ceremonial laws. We talked about judicial laws. We talked about how the moral law is universal and Eternal who does the moral law apply to? Everyone and how long is it going to be in place? eternally We talked about the law does not justify us, but it is a rule for our lives. And last of all, a proper view of the law harmonizes with the gospel. And so next week, we'll take up grace and begin to talk about grace. Wayne, can you close in a word of prayer, please? Amen.